University District (Spokane, Washington)

St. Aloysius Gonzaga parish church, on the campus of Gonzaga University

What is now the southern half of the University District, south of the river, was initially developed in the 1890s and 1910s as a commercial district and rail yard. The area was home to numerous warehouses for department and grocery stores such as Sears and Roebuck and Safeway.[4] The historic Schade Brewery was constructed in the area in 1903 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[5] The Great Northern, Milwaukee Road and Great Northern railroads passed through the area until the 1970s, when most of the railroads in the city center were torn out ahead of Expo 74.[4]

Higher education came to the area in the early 1990s, after a mandate from the state that Washington State University establish a branch campus in Spokane. In 1992, a blueprint for what would be known as the Riverpoint Campus was published, with plans for five to seven buildings that would house the Spokane campuses of Eastern Washington University and Washington State University. The first building to open was the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute (SIRTI) at 665 N. Riverpoint Blvd in 1994. Starting in the 1990s and continuing into the first decades of the 21st century, the campus expanded with new construction and the renovation of old buildings. This growth took place around the Riverpoint area, roughly between the Spokane River to the north and east and the BNSF railroad about three blocks to the south.[6][7]

Expansion south of the railroad tracks was planned starting in early 2014, when the city established the University District Redevelopment Implementation Strategy.[8] A pedestrian and cyclist bridge over the railroad tracks was completed in 2019, connecting the WSU and EWU campuses with the intersection of Sherman Street and Sprague Avenue. Development around the southern landing of the bridge has taken place in the years since the bridge was opened.[9]

North of the river, the University District has been home to higher education since the 1880s. Gonzaga University was established as Gonzaga College in 1887. The St. Aloysius church was dedicated in 1911, and Gonzaga's law school was opened a year later in 1912. That same year, the Washington state legislature granted Gonzaga official "university" status. The school began allowing women in 1948.[10] The university has undergone significant expansion and growth since 1999, when the men's basketball team broke onto the national scene with a run to the Elite Eight of the 1999 NCAA tournament.[11]

Though now also referred to as a local area in Spokane, the University District was created as a 770-acre[12] tax-increment financing district to promote and support land, economic, and educational development at the universities that lie within the district and the areas that surround them.

WSU Health Sciences Spokane Campus in 2015

The University District spans across parts of four Spokane neighborhoods Riverside, East Central, Logan, and Emerson/Garfield and comprises three main areas.[13]

• University District